14th Day of Christmas
by kuragari nikkou
Summary: Part of my Days of Christmas project. Eliwood has a problem. Legault has a solution. Well, he has one for a price... Warnings: Minor LegaultXEliwood. That, and OOC.


All characters © their respective owners

-JINGLEGIFTJINGLEGIFT

Hoshi: On the fourteenth day of Christmas my true love wrote for me!

Warnings: Minor LegaultXEliwood. Weird pairing, yeah? Oh, and OOC is a given.

-GIVINGALLTHEWAY!

"Maybe you could try again next year?" Marcus advised his current lord. Eliwood only looked away from the knight's gaze in disappointment, his grip on the wrapped box not loosening. Marcus narrowed his eyes. "Lord Eliwood, they won't think any less of you for not being able to deliver their Christmas presents. Their nations are far away from Pherae, after all. And even if you could get someone to use a warp staff on you to get there instantaneously, how would you be able to make it to Caelin or Ostia in time to deliver the next one? For that matter, how would you get home?"

"I know…it's just…I never have time to do this for them. I hoped that this year would be different." The red-haired noble answered.

"You'll figure something out." Marcus assured him as he got up to leave his lord's room. "For now, just head into the dining hall. You haven't been eating much lately." The knight advised as he walked out the door.

"All right…"

:l-l:l-l:

Eliwood walked through the halls of his castle, still in deep thought. He always ran into this problem! How could he give gifts to both Hector and Lyn when their nations were so far away? Usually, he could send them in advance, and they could get there in time, but now he had two different people in faraway nations and this year's gifts took too long to prepare. He couldn't depend on deliveries to get them in on time because anything sent by a lord meant it was a target for bandits.

He sighed audibly. It wasn't like they could all meet in one place either. A noble's job is even busier during the holidays, after all. And he couldn't send his knights because they would insist on protecting the castle. ("We can't let our guard down simply for celebration!" Marcus would say) Eliwood frowned, getting lost in further complications and thoughts. He didn't notice the shadow that had been following him until it spoke up.

"Shouldn't you be smiling?"

"Ah…!" Eliwood raised his hands in surprise before he turned around to see a familiar face. "Legault?"

"Do you know any other thieves as good as me?" The lavender-haired man smiled.

"I'm pretty sure Matthew is improving." Eliwood said absent-mindedly. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I was just here to greet Isadora." Legault answered. "At least, until Harken chased me off." Eliwood laughed at that. "It's a good thing that shield of his slows him down or I would've been a goner."

"I see."

"Now, why don't you answer my question?" the thief proposed. Eliwood looked away.

"It's not a big deal, really." The younger man answered. "I just hoped to deliver these gifts to Lyn and Hector, but…"

"But they're both very faraway, and you certainly can't use a warp staff without any means of returning home, correct?" Legault finished the sentence for him. Eliwood blinked at how accurate it was before he narrowed his eyes.

"You were eavesdropping on me and Marcus." He quietly accused.

"It's what thieves do." Legault gestured somewhat apologetically. "But I do have a solution for you." Eliwood raised a brow at that.

"I'm listening." He answered. The older man then took two small gems out of his pocket.

"These are my newest prizes. Got them from some ruins a while back." He said as he turned the gems this way and that in his hands. "This one," he held the purple one in his other hand, "can teleport to wherever this one," he held up the red one, "is no matter how far away the red gem is from the purple one."

"So," Eliwood started to understand the thief's proposal, "if I were to keep the red gem, and you were to hold the purple gem, then we could use a warp staff on you and-."

"And then I could teleport back to you after I've delivered one of the gifts and be back in time to deliver the other one." Legault again finished the sentence for him. "You certainly catch on quick for a lordling."

"Well, not all of us spend our time in the arena like Hector." The red-haired lord replied. "But why would you do this for me?"

"Why, lord Eliwood!" the other man exclaimed in mock hurt. "It injures me to think that you believe I would only do this for self gain!" Then his smile reappeared. "But you are right. All I ask in return is a favor that you'll repay however and whenever I request it."

"I'll accept so long as it isn't immoral." Eliwood agreed with slight traces of suspicion.

'_Well, it might not be to your knights…'_ Legault thought. "Who in their right mind would ask _you_ to do anything immoral, my lord?"

:l-l:l-l:

The thief surveyed his surroundings thoroughly. He didn't think Eliwood would ask his mother, Eleanora, to use a warp staff on him and send him to Ostia. The look she gave him before raising her staff practically screamed, "I'm watching you!" Sure he was a thief, but that didn't mean he was out to corrupt her innocent son and loot the vaults. He half-thought she'd send him in the middle of the ocean. He looked around a little more before he saw Castle Ostia just past the town he had walked in.

"Well, it wasn't like sending me to an ocean would do much good when I've got this." Legault said out loud as he looked at the purple gem in his hand. "Time to get to work, I suppose." He glided into the castle quietly, no one seemed to notice the ex-Black Fang member.

"Whoever you are lurking in the shadows, you'd better show yourself." …well, except that one, apparently.

"Why, Matthew, did you really miss me that much?" Legault asked whimsically, not caring that he'd been caught by the other thief. "You should've told me so I could pay you a visit sooner!"

"No, I didn't miss you." Matthew snapped. He took a breath and calmed himself down before continuing. "What are you doing in Ostia, Legault? Don't tell me you're trying to raid our vaults because you know I can't let you that."

"I'm on an errand from lord Eliwood." The scarred thief answered simply. Before he could continue explaining, Matthew interrupted him.

"Why would lord Eliwood ask you to run an errand for him?" the Ostian spy asked. "Are you trying to corrupt Lord Hector's childhood friend?" he accused.

"I am _hurt_ at such an accusation!" Legault found himself copying the same tone he used with Eliwood.

"But there's no way you're doing this for free. I know that's not how you work." Matthew asserted. "What do you want from him?"

"I'm just delivering this gift to Lord Hector." The older thief changed the subject as he pulled the box out from his pack. "Oh, and it looks there are some for Oswin, Serra, and you." He said as he shoved two of the boxes onto Matthew and pulled out the rest of the gifts.

"Wha…? For me?" the younger thief asked.

"And since you're here, Matthew, you can help me deliver these!" Legault dumped the rest of the boxes onto the other thief. "Now to get back to Lord Eliwood."

"Hey, wait!" Matthew protested. "Let me go with you!"

"Ohhhh, Matthew, you didn't tell me you had such a huge crush on me!" the ex-Black Fang member declared teasingly.

"Shut up!" the other thief blushed. "That's not it at all! I just need to make sure you're not trying to do anything immoral to Lord Hector's childhood friend!"

"Sorry," Legault said as he pulled out the purple gem, "this only takes one person at a time!" He then disappeared.

:l-l:l-l:

Legault now found himself in Caelin. When he had teleported back to Pherae, Eliwood had been in the bath. That was a lovely sight, and it wasn't like Legault hadn't warned him about where he should be at all times because he'd teleport back without warning. He was lucky that Eliwood hadn't screamed and alerted his knights, or he would definitely be unable to return to Pherae again, even _with_ Isadora's friendship. With that mental image stored away, he walked towards Castle Caelin.

"Yaaaaaaaaaah!" Lyn's voice came from the courtyard. The Sacaen swordswoman must have been training. Legault managed to sneak up next to her when her she swung her blade backwards and almost hit him in the gut with it. Luckily for him, thieves were faster than swordsmasters, but he was a little bummed that the only person he could sneak up on today was Eliwood. "Legault?" Lyn asked as she sheathed her blade. "What are you doing here?"

"So suspicious without reason, lady Lyndis?" Legualt asked.

"You _are_ a thief." She answered.

"One who's saved your life quite a few times." The thief added. "But I'm here on an errand from Lord Eliwood, so I have no intention of committing thievery today." He took a box from his pack.

"Why would Eliwood ask you to run an…?" Lyn's eyes widened slightly before she narrowed them. "Legault, what do want with Eliwood?"

"You would think I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart?" Legault again found himself using the same tone he used with Eliwood and Matthew.

"If you're trying to corrupt him in any way-!"

"Why does everyone think I'm corrupting him?" the lavender-haired man asked honestly as he shoved more boxes into Lyn's hands. "Those are for Kent, Sain, Florina, and Will, by the way."

"Er…wha?!" Lyn attempted to balance out the gifts. Whatever Eliwood was giving them was fairly heavy. Weapons, perhaps?

"Happy holidays, lady Lyndis!" the thief exclaimed as he disappeared with the gem.

"H-hey!" Lyn called after him as she tried to set the gifts down without breaking whatever was in them.

:l-l:l-l:

"Well, they've been delivered." Legault announced as he appeared to Eliwood. This time, he had ended up on the noble's bed. Eliwood was at his desk and looked up from reading when the thief had spoken up.

"Did Lyn like the gift?" he asked.

"Yep." The ex-Black Fang member answered. It wasn't a complete lie. She didn't say she hated it.

"Thank you for everything, Legault." Eliwood smiled.

"Oh, it wasn't hard. Your mother has quite the precision with that warp staff." He praised. "Now, then, about that favor…"

"You want it now?" the red-haired lordling asked as he tilted his head. "I would figure that you'd save it for when you're in a tight spot or something…"

"The condition was however and whenever I requested, wasn't it?"

"Only if it's not immoral!" The noble asserted.

"Depends on the point of view." Legault answered as he leaned in to capture the rapier-wielder's lips. Eliwood's eyes widened at the action, but he hadn't pulled away, probably too shocked to. The kiss was fairly brief, wouldn't want to 'corrupt' him or anything, after all.

"T-that…" Eliwood looked down as his face refused to return to its normal shade. "That was my first!" he finished.

The thief could only stare at this point.

'_You're telling me you've never at least kissed a girl before?'_ was his first thought. _'You didn't think this was immoral?'_ was his second. And then, the door of Eliwood's bedroom broke down. Marcus and the other Pheraen knights had grim frowns on their faces.

"Who. Took. Lord Eliwood's first?" Marcus demanded slowly as he tried to contain his rage.

-OHWHATFUNITISTOWRITEWITHONLY ONEHOUR!

Hoshi: I'd sure like to expand on this when I have the time.

Holiday moral: Be careful what you ask for.

Hoshi: …I miss my incoherency. This is so so SO unlike what I normally write!


End file.
